


Two People under a Full Moon

by josephina_x



Series: Clexmas True Love Drabble Fest 2014 [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: (Rated G otherwise), (then), Excelsior Prep, Full Moon, Gen, Memories, Memory Loss, Nighttime, Old School, Rating for Language, Season 1, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:52:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josephina_x/pseuds/josephina_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two times Lex found himself staring in awe at a picturesque night under a full moon. The first time, however, sucked hardcore despite this. Because <i>Oliver</i>. (Asshole.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two People under a Full Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Two People under a Full Moon  
> For the [Clexmas True Love Drabble 'Fest 2014](http://clexmas.livejournal.com/91049.html)  
> Prompt #2: Expectations  
> Summary: Two times Lex found himself staring in awe at a picturesque night under a full moon. The first time, however, sucked hardcore despite this. Because _Oliver_. (Asshole.)  
>  AN: There's only a little Clark+Lex in here, so I thought that posting to AO3 with the link for the full story might be better than blatantly posting to LJ's Clexmas. (Because "ewwww, Ollie and Lex!", obviously ^_^;; ) Only the Clark+Lex part of the piece is [posted at the LJ page](http://clexmas.livejournal.com/91564.html?view=1026220#t1026220).

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lex was walking down the corridor that night, minding his own business, when a door opened to his right, and an arm snaked out and grabbed him.

Lex was hauled into the darkened room. The door slammed shut.

Lex punched out.

"Owfuck!" came a complaint in a very different voice than the one he'd been expecting.

Not that he should've expected anyone else, because it wasn't like he didn't know any better. It couldn't have been _Duncan_. Which could only mean...

A flashlight clicked on, but Lex didn't need the light to illuminate anything for him. He knew full well who was in that room with him from that one exclamation.

Alden, Geoffrey, and Oliver- _fucking_ -Queen.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you _trying_ to get me expelled?" Lex hissed at the three idiots as they tromped through the wooded grounds.

"No," Queen whispered back over his shoulder. "Now shut up and keep up," he was told. Mildly, no less, which just made it irritating as fuck.

Lex gritted his teeth, but he couldn't exactly deny that he was still following them, trying to keep up, rubbing his abused arm as he went. So which of them were the bigger fools, then? The ones who were breaking the rules with impugnity and ignorance just like they always did? Or the one who knew better but was still doing it anyway?

Fucking peer pressure. That's what this was. That, and the fact that he knew that at least one of these three might actually try and stop him if he went beyond even _their_ own loose and shady code of conduct, again. He didn't really trust himself alone with other people right now. Not after...

"My arm hurts," Lex said to no-one in particular, knowing that no-one would care. It was also the same exact reason why he bothered to say it.

"Shut up," he heard from the front. Alden, probably. Alden was and had always been a petty-minded loud-mouthed jerk, and lately he'd been treating Lex worse than even Queen was these days, unbelievably enough. ...Well, rudeness like _that_ called for a response.

" _You_ shut up," Lex shot back petulantly, under his breath.

"Shhh," Oliver murmured back at him, not even bothering to look back or slow down. Typical.

Lex rubbed his arms as he walked and tried not to shiver. It was too cold out to be wearing just the uniform. They should've let him at least go back to his room and get a jacket. (...Because then he could've barricaded the door once inside and not had to go with them.)

And then he tripped and fell over a tree root.

Oliver caught him, barely, but he wasn't exactly gentle about it.

"Ow," Lex complained, as he squirmed and shoved himself away from Oliver and back upright. Oliver stayed at his side though, like he was some kind of baby. Or maybe a rabid beast, like...

"He's too damn loud," Lex heard Geoffrey echo back in complaint, if not warning.

"Well, I'd stop tripping over things if you gave me a damn light," Lex spat back, only marginally quieter. "And given how far we already are away from the building, and how far we _aren't_ into the wood and out of sight of the west hall's windows, the light's probably going to get us caught long before any noise will!"

He'd thought Queen might slap him for that, but Alden was the one who rounded on him, shining the light right in his face. Bared teeth and glaring, Alden spat out caustically, "Now listen, you little--"

"--He's right," Oliver said quietly after a moment, and Lex started where he stood. "Let's move further in."

Lex didn't bother to protest as Oliver grabbed him by the arm -- the same one as in the hallway, ow -- and pulled him along, leaving Lex no choice now but to follow. How had he ever thought that things might somehow be better with these three being forced to try to act like his friends? What had he been thinking? Duncan was right, he-- he had been right. He was, and had been right, about them.

Getting the three bullying boys in front of him expelled would have been the only real way to be rid of their bullying, and Lex had screwed it up. It would have been drastic, and maybe ruined them forever, having that sort of black mark of cheating on their permanent records, but hadn't Duncan been right? Hadn't it been the right thing to do, like Duncan had said, because they had deserved it? Hadn't they? After everything? Lex had been wrong, hadn't he? So wrong. He should have listened to Duncan, when--

The only good thing about the situation was that Oliver had a flashlight, so at least Lex could see where he was going well enough to put his feet down without tripping ~~and killing himself~~ now.

They walked and walked and walked until Lex was about to put up a complaint about getting blisters on his feet from the uncomfortable school uniform shoes. He started to push it under, until he remembered that Duncan was dead and he didn't care if Oliver pounded him anymore because he deserved it.

So Lex took in a deep breath and purposefully let out another loud complaint, to the tune of: "What the hell are we doing out here?" Because Oliver was the ringleader, and Oliver hadn't said.

"Almost there," he heard Oliver murmur to him -- which didn't explain anything, damnit! -- and then they abruptly stumbled into a clearing.

"Lights off," Oliver said, and as Lex's eyes adjusted, he couldn't help but stare.

He took a short step forward, forgetting about Oliver's hand on his arm, but nothing stopped him. He tilted his head back and looked up.

It was a full moon on a clear and starry night, no clouds, under a ring of trees and dew-laden grass on a gentle slope. It was _beautiful_.

Lex was about to breathe out an awed, "Wow..." when he was jarringly pulled back to earth and the reality of the situation at hand when he heard Alden say, "Right, trees and grass. The fuck, Ollie? We don't have any girls with us."

"Or blankets," Geoffrey put in, and Lex shuddered because, god, this wasn't some make-out point. This was _art!_

"Oh for fuck's sake, you two," he heard Oliver cut in, and now the experience had been just about completely and utterly ruined for Lex, _thanks_. "Just-- go find your own clearing if you don't like this one," Oliver continued.

"Oh, come _on_ Queen," he heard Alden say. "What are you now, a girl like Luthor?" And he began making kissy sounds.

"Look, you don't like it? Go back to the dorms," Oliver said, and now he just sounded exasperated with them, which was just weird.

"Whatever," said Alden. "C'mon, Geoffrey."

Lex shifted in place uneasily as he glanced over his shoulder and saw them leaving.

He took a second to glance up at Oliver and gauge his reaction.

Oliver was watching him.

...Right. Because _that_ wasn't awkward _at all_.

"You okay?" he was asked by Queen, and that was just _**bizarre**_.

"No, I'm not okay," Lex told him, feeling a little piqued. "You wrenched my arm earlier, I think I've got bruises where you grabbed me, my feet are sore from all the walking because I'm not wearing outdoor shoes, and I'm fucking freezing!"

Queen stared at him a moment, then just sighed like Lex was being an annoyance, when it was _clearly_ the other way around.

"What do you think?" Oliver asked next, turning toward the clearing, and it took Lex a second to realize -- did he mean the _view?!?_

"It's--" Lex was at a loss. "It's nice," he said lamely. He turned towards it again himself, tried to soak in the sight despite the utter weirdness of the fact that he was having to share it with _Queen_ of all people, who had freaking _brought him here_. "--I wish I had my sketchbook," he blurted out, then wondered why the hell he'd said that. Because that? That was just setting himself up for more mockery and abuse. Like Oliver _cared_ whether Lex wished he could draw it, capture even a piece of this on paper.

There was a beat where Lex stood there, tense, waiting for the ridicule, and... Oliver didn't say a thing.

But, after awhile, long enough that it startled Lex when he spoke up again, Oliver did say something, and what he said was a casual, "Does it remind you of anything?"

Lex had to turn and stare at him again, because, "What?"

Oliver was looking out over the clearing, up at the sky. "Does it remind you of anything?" he was asked again.

"I..." Lex stood there stunned. Was this some sort of trick question? Some kind of setup? "...It's a moonlit night?" Lex replied, wondering if Oliver had received some weird form of brain damage in the last twenty-four hours.

After no response seemed forthcoming, beyond Oliver turning his head to stare down at him with an expression Lex didn't recognize that still somehow managed to make him feel more than a little uncomfortable, Lex added, blithely, "...I hear that happens a lot." He turned away from Queen and shoved his hands in his pockets, hoping for warmth.

...Screw his sketchpad and pencils, Lex wished he had a pair of _gloves_. And a coat. And hot chocolate. God, why had he gone out wandering at night like this? He was breaking, like, twelve different school rules right now, and he had a test tomorrow he still needed to study for. When he got back to their room, Duncan was gonna have a fit. No, a litter of _kittens_. He was gonna get the scolding of his _life_ for--

\-- _for_ \--

Lex paled. Because, for a second there... oh god, for a second there he'd forgotten about Duncan, and how he wouldn't be waiting up night for Lex anymore, to give him hell for sneaking out on some doomed-to-fail quest to get even.

He wouldn't be waiting up for _anyone_ , because **Lex had killed him.**

"It really doesn't remind you of anything?" he heard Oliver ask again, in an odd tone.

"No," Lex said tersely, "Should it?" He wanted to punch Oliver and punch him hard. He'd been there. Oliver had been there, too. --Why hadn't he stopped Lex sooner?

Lex turned away, staring into the deep, dark woods. He imagined the sort of wolves that might live there. Mankillers.

He heard Oliver sigh, and a hand fall to his shoulder.

"C'mon," Oliver said, clicking on his flashlight, and they headed back for the school.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Oliver didn't get it. He really didn't.

Things had been going well. Lex had lit up like it was Christmas Day, when Oliver had shown him what he'd found. He'd known that Lex would get it.

Except... he hadn't. --But he _had_ to, because this was _Warrior Angel_ , and maybe he was a better liar than Oliver had thought because when Oliver had tried to get him to admit it, or at least _acknowledge_ it, what Oliver was trying to say, Lex had just looked at him blankly. Acted confused. It made _no sense._

It should have worked. Why hadn't it worked?!

Lex hadn't even gotten defensive about it when Oliver had pushed him, and he _always_ got defensive about Warrior Angel with him. He'd gotten snarky, almost pushing sarcastic, instead. What the hell?

Oliver shoved down his frustration. Duncan was... gone... but that didn't mean that Lex had to be angry at the planet about it. It was his fault, and Oliver's too, and maybe more Oliver's than his because Oliver had been the one pushing him.

When Dumb Duncan, too smart to get out of the road, had stopped in the middle of the street and yelled back at him, at them, Oliver had felt the hit, hard. He hadn't wanted to be Lex's friend while he was tied to Duncan -- Lex was horrible when he was with Duncan -- and he couldn't have been anyway because Duncan had gone out of his way to make Lex hate him. Oliver may have been friends with Lex before Excelsior Prep, but when they'd started attending together he'd made it conditional on Lex shunning Duncan like he should have, like everyone else with any sense did, and Oliver hadn't even thought about it that way until Duncan had screamed it at them right before getting mowed down by that truck.

Oliver had been rethinking a lot of things since then. Chief among them had been how desperate Lex had been to secure his and his friends' favor, blackmailing them like that. That had taken guts, the kind of guts Oliver now knew Lex hadn't had -- he hadn't shaved his hair off that first year, he was actually bald now -- when he'd mistakenly thought otherwise before. ...Or hadn't had at the start. But confronting the three of them, alone, and blackmailing them for social status? That _did_ take guts. He hadn't thought Lex would ever be capable of something like that, not while he was following Duncan around.

It would have been infuriating at the time, if it hadn't been so damn impressive. Because Lex had had a plan. A good one. And he'd really had a hook that would have worked on even them, too. Oliver and his friends were at the top of the social ladder, now, and had been for some time, and if Oliver had had a reason to, he could have done it. If Oliver had really wanted to, he really could have told the other students to lay off of Lex, off of him and Duncan both, told Alden and Geoffrey to leave them be, too, and it would have stuck. But he hadn't. He could have, but... he hadn't. He hadn't wanted to. He hadn't, and didn't, and then Lex had had to resort to blackmailing them, and then Duncan had _finally_ picked a stance that Lex _couldn't_ agree with him on out of principle, and now...

He'd also been thinking about how _smart_ Duncan had been about what he'd screamed at them, because Lex had gone pale as a sheet when he'd said it, and it had taken a couple sleepless nights for Oliver to realize that Lex had thought Duncan hadn't been yelling at Oliver, but at _him_. ...Which just figured. He'd hit them both at once, and not only made it _hurt_ but made it **stick** , just like he had ever since he'd wedged himself inbetween him and Lex that very first year from the get-go.

Duncan was probably laughing from hell, now. Because Lex had done the right thing, choosing not to get them expelled over the stolen test -- because Oliver and his friends would have gotten well and truly fucked over if he'd done that, if he'd just quietly gone along with what Duncan had wanted to do, something that would have gone far beyond anything they'd ever done to each other over the intervening years thus far.

...And now Lex was probably second-guessing himself, even though he shouldn't be, because Duncan had had to go off and be a complete moron, a tight-assed rules hound. --But _only_ when it suited him. Oliver knew for a _fact_ that he'd covered for Lex before, when Lex had snuck out at night, and not turned him in to their dormitory hall's RA. If he was such a righteous stickler for the rules, he wouldn't look the other way for Lex -- he'd try to fry everyone equally for the same thing, including Lex.

Duncan had been a hypocrite and a liar, and Lex was better off without him, but as much as Oliver had hated him, and despised Lex for what he'd willingly _let_ Duncan turn him into, he hadn't wanted Duncan **dead** , christ!

Duncan's death had been a shock to all of them, and, well, Oliver figured that the only thing he could do now to try and make things right, to fix things, was to try and remember why he'd been friends with Lex in the first place, so many years ago, and then try and redeem him, maybe salvage _something_ worthwhile out of this whole mess. Because if he could just get the old Lex he knew back, at least, then maybe, just maybe...

"Do you still read Warrior Angel?" Oliver tried, as bluntly as he could, as they moved off of the grass that had turned into manicured lawn, and out onto the sidewalks. Safe ground, more or less, because Oliver could talk himself out of any trouble for being out of the dorms at this hour, walking the main paths, at least.

Lex glared back at him and... didn't come to a stop on the pavement. He turned away again and kept moving. "...Yes," he said, sounding wary. "Why?"

"All of them?"

"Yes." Lex kept moving.

Oliver doggedly kept it up. "Every last one?"

"Yes!" Lex said, stopping and wheeling to face him. "Why? You want to have some more 'fun' at tearing up other people's comic books, again?" he demanded, shoulders tense.

"What?" Oliver said, coming to a halt, then he remembered. "You mean last week? --Christ, Lex," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It's not like you can't afford to replace it." He rolled his eyes. "But if it's got you that mad, I'll buy you another one, okay?" God, this was ridiculous. He knew Lex bought two copies of every one. Even if Oliver tore up every "reading" copy, Lex would still have the second copy that was sent to his home. And Lex could always catch up by reading those copies over the break with, whatever, silk gloves or something, if he really wanted to.

" _It wasn't mine!_ " Lex all-but-screamed at him under his breath, hands fisted at his sides.

"What?" Oliver said, taken aback. It took him a couple seconds of Lex glaring daggers at him before he got the implication. "Oh, like _hell!_ " Oliver said, exasperated and annoyed, because he knew better than that. "Duncan doesn't have money for his own comics." Everybody knew that. He always borrowed Lex's to read, the little leech, and Lex let him. -- _Had_ let him.

"It wasn't mine; it was his," Lex insisted. "He saved up and he bought it with his own money."

 _Bullshit,_ Oliver thought. But fine. Whatever. Maybe Lex wasn't lying. Oliver didn't feel like rehashing last week's argument all over again. But, knowing Duncan, the little rat probably _had_ stolen it.

He let it go. He had better things to worry about. ...Shit, was he actually worried? He stared at Lex for awhile, gauging his own feelings. ...No, he wasn't worried. He was... nervous, almost. Because Lex was acting like...

"Lex," Oliver said slowly. "You've really read every Warrior Angel comic? To date?"

"Yes!" Lex exclaimed with no small exasperation.

"And you remember them all?" God, this was like, Twilight Zone shit.

"Of course I do!" Lex told him, looking angry and sounding offended. He turned his back on Oliver and started walking away, back rigid with perfect posture, like he only ever did when something had well and truly pissed him off. "I remember everything about Warrior Angel _worth_ remembering!"

...Okay, now Oliver was starting to get pissed off, because if Lex didn't remember this, if he'd forgotten **on purpose** \--

Oliver took in a sharp breath. "And what about Warrior Angel is _worth_ remembering, Lex?" he asked, in tones that sounded far calmer to him than he was feeling right then. And Lex was right there, back to him, and _so_ close. He could just shove him, hard, catch him unawares and send him sprawling, and things would be more than even again. Lex deserved it for forgetting, or for lying about it; either way, he would deserve it. Oliver's hands slowly came up, because it would be _so easy_ \--

" _ **Everything,**_ " Lex spat back at him caustically, hand on the door of the rear entrance to the dormitory building, and Oliver nearly tripped over his own feet on the stairs, because _everything?!?!_ Lex remembered _**everything?!?**_ \--But he **couldn't!** Not if he-- He _had_ to have forgotten--

Lex didn't even hesitate; he just pulled the door open and silently slipped in through the gap.

Oliver had to dash forward and grab it before it slammed shut, because _that_ would have made enough noise to catch somebody's attention inside. He slid in himself and caught sight of Lex already down and rounding the bend, moving fast enough that _Lex_ wouldn't have gotten caught if it had, just him, _the jerk_.

He controlled the motion of the door, hand on both the knob and the side, carefully closing it behind him, so it wouldn't make any noise at all. And the entire way back to his room, when he should've been planning vengeance on Lex's troublesome near-hit, all he could think about was Lex's reply.

Because _what the actual fuck?_ Did Lex _really_ not remember? But he said he remembered everything to do with Warrior Angel! But that didn't make any sense! --How? How was that even possible?! It couldn't be both!

It kept Oliver up a whole 'nother hour tossing and turning in bed until he realized -- it wasn't possible. Lex couldn't. It couldn't be one or the other for him -- it _had_ to be either both, or neither. ...Except if it _was_ neither -- which it _had_ to be given his reaction in the woods -- then Lex _couldn't_ know everything, and--

Oliver turned over and stared at the wall. He punched his pillow and tried yet again to get comfortable, even though it just wasn't working. This was driving him nuts, because...

\--that made _no sense_. How could Lex know everything, but not know it?

Oliver frowned furiously to himself. Stupid Lex. ...And then it hit him.

It was because Lex _didn't_ know it. He just **thought** he did.

It was a desperate and scary new idea, because Oliver was so used to Lex being the smart-aleck know-it-all (that, christ, knew more than their own _teachers_ did!) that it had never occurred to him before that Lex might actually be so very wrong about something, _anything_ factual. Yeah, Lex was shit at people, but _everything else?_ Jesus.

Oliver turned over, buried his head with his pillow, and punched his fist into the mattress. Alden's snoring wasn't helping him much, either.

...But how could Lex _think_ he knew everything Warrior Angel, when he _clearly_ didn't remember-- It still made _no sense_.

Oliver's mind ran in circles until he was finally too tired to do anything but give up. He shoved the pillow away and reached for his earplugs, thinking that if he slept through his alarm and Alden didn't wake him up on time the next morning after being half the reason keeping him up all night, there'd be hell to pay.

He shoved them in and rolled over and stared at the ceiling for awhile, and wondered, his brain feeling more than a little bruised and broken, _What the hell am I missing?_

He closed his eyes and, eventually, he fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"...What do you expect me to do with this, Clark?" Lex asked with no small bemusement. He looked down at the candy cane he'd been handed. He'd heard about hanging these from Christmas trees, but from the looks of things, the Kents had their tree well-in hand. He wasn't sure if there was even a spot to put it on, that wouldn't result in some catastrophe involving a cascade of ornaments falling off one of the already heavily-laden branches, or the tree falling over from the last little bit of too much weight on it.

"Wha'?" asked Clark turning around, and Lex immediately saw the cause of the mumble -- he had his own candy cane thoroughly-embedded in his mouth.

Lex stifled a cough, which hid a laugh. "Right," he said, and began to unwrap his... appetizer? Apparently dinner was still a ways off, the night before Christmas.

Lex garnered a smile from Clark for his actions, so he supposed he must be doing the right thing. He stuck the end of the candy cane in his mouth, and pulled it out like a lollipop. He held it out in front of him and felt himself getting a bit of a puzzled frown, as he tried to decide whether or not he liked the taste, because...

"This isn't peppermint," he said, a little confused.

He looked up at Clark, but Clark just shrugged at him.

Lex looked at him balefully with pure consternation. --He ought to at least know what the flavor was supposed to be, so he could tell others!

Clark, on his part, mostly ignored Lex's pure consternation, and instead opted to walk over to the large window in front and sit down on the edge.

"Oh, wow..." Lex heard Clark say as he peered outside, and then perk up and squash himself in closer to the windowpane. "Lex..." And Lex, of course, took that as an invitation to wander over and see what all the fuss was about.

He bent down, pushing the edge of the curtain lightly to the side, and looked out the window onto a truly lovely evening. Snow was still gently falling from the sky, but tapering off -- the weather was finally clearing up, clouds breaking, and the stars were coming out one by one. Everything was covered in pure white, and it was beautiful, with the moon bright and full in the sky--

Lex turned away.

"Lex?" Clark asked, turning back towards him.

"It's nice," Lex said, feeling a pang in his chest as he remembered another full moon and...

"Are you okay?" he was asked, and Clark was looking worried, almost.

Lex swallowed. Hard. It was so different.

"I'm fine," Lex told him. "It's fine." He licked his lips and said carefully, "I thought you didn't like this sort of thing?"

"Um, sometimes. It's okay, I guess." Clark was frowning, definitely worried now, but also just as confused, and a lot more focused on Lex than on the scenery. "I'm sorry," he said, and Lex knew he meant it. He turned away from the window completely, putting his back to it. "I only wanted to show you because... I mean, I know you like, um, people sketches, but I thought you liked stuff like this, too?"

"I do," Lex said. "Thank you, Clark." And then he smiled at his friend. But it hurt, a little bit.

"Boys!" They both looked up at the call, to see Martha Kent standing in the division between kitchen and living room. "Dinner time!" She waved them over. "Come over and wash up, now."

Clark huffed a breath in and out, and rolled his eyes good-naturedly, like he'd been told this a million times, and expected to hear it a million times more. He pushed off of the windowsill, and Lex straightened in turn.

Lex felt the uncomfortable pressure in his chest ease as he left thoughts of moonlit nights behind, and concentrated instead on what was right in front of him: Clark. And something that maybe felt like home.

~*~*~*~*~*~


End file.
